McKinnie wins Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Super Tournament on St. John’s River

PALATKA, Fla. – Boater Jason McKinnie of Umatilla earned $4,953 Saturday as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Seminole Division Super Tournament event on the St. John’s River. The tournament earned McKinnie 300 points in the Boater Division.

McKinnie’s winning catch of 10 bass weighed 26 pounds, 14 ounces. McKinnie alternated between a Carolina-rigged junebug Paca Craw and a topwater lure to catch his bass. He received an additional $1,000 for meeting the Ranger Cup guidelines.

Finishing second was Christopher Lane of Winter Haven, with 10 bass weighing 25 pounds, 4 ounces that earned him $2,417. Deryl Williams of Lake City, claimed $1,179 as the third-place finisher thanks to seven bass weighing 24 pounds, 7 ounces. In fourth was Bobby Smith of Panama City, with nine bass weighing 22 pounds, 5 ounces worth $1,061, and finishing fifth and earning $943 was Bryan Hudgins of Orange Park, with 10 bass weighing 21 pounds, 9 ounces.

Roger Helm of Green Cove Springs, took Boater Division big-bass award honors, earning $820 for a 6-pound, 3-ounce bass. He caught his big bass on a junebug Zoom Trick worm.

Robert Dice of Perry bested the other Co-angler Division competitors to earn $2,476 as the co-angler winner, thanks to 10 bass weighing 26 pounds, 3 ounces that he caught on a Bagley Bang-O-Lure.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers were Kenneth Hunnicutt of Jacksonville (10 bass, 23 pounds, 3 ounces, $1,209); Michael Hopper of San Mateo (10 bass, 22 pounds, 6 ounces, $590); Michael Catt of Jacksonville (seven bass, 21 pounds, 1 ounce, $531); and Matt Smith of Lynn Haven (eight bass, 18 pounds, 5 ounces, $472).

Catt earned $410 as the co-angler big-bass award winner with a 6-pound, 4-ounce bass he caught on a Zoom Super Fluke.

Lane earned and additional $1,000 as the Yamaha “Be the Best” points champion in Seminole Boater Division. Mark Gunter of Gainesville earned $500 as the Yamaha “Be the Best” points champion in the Co-angler Division.

The top 40 Seminole Division boaters and co-anglers based on year-end points standings will advance to the Lake Toho Regional near Kissimmee, Fla., Oct. 4-8 where they will compete against Bama, Bulldog and South Carolina division anglers for one of six slots in the 2006 All-American. With a total purse of $1 million and a potential $140,000 cash prize going to the winning boater and $70,000 going to the winning co-angler, the All-American is one of the most prestigious and lucrative events in bass fishing.

The $8.4 million Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League features 28 divisions nationwide. In BFL competition, boaters and co-anglers are randomly paired, with boaters supplying the boat and fishing against other boaters and co-anglers fishing from the back deck against other co-anglers. For more information or to enter a tournament, call (270) 252-1000 or browse FLWOutdoors.com.

Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League and seven other national tournament circuits offering a combined $30 million in awards through 214 events in 2005. The 27-year-old organization is the purveyor of America’s largest and most prestigious fishing tournaments, including the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, EverStart Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour and Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series.

Wal-Mart and many of America’s largest and most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as title sponsor of the FLW Tour in 1997 and today is the title sponsor of all FLW Outdoors events. For more information on Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com.